special feature overview of kyoto railway museum · special feature overview of kyoto railway...
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50Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
Special Feature
Overview of Kyoto Railway Museum
Hideyuki Miura
Museum that closed in April 2014 have also been moved
to the new museum run by the Transportation Culture
Promotion Foundation.
A total of 111,500 people visited the museum in the 10
days from the 29-April grand opening through the long
holiday period ending on 8 May with the highest daily
attendance of 17,200 visitors on 4 May. Even after the initial
rush, the museum continues to bustle with many visitors.
Introduction
Kyoto Railway Museum opened on 28 April 2016 in the
international tourism city of Kyoto. The museum has been
built by West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) in Umekoji Park
as a facility adjoining the old Umekoji Steam Locomotive
Museum that closed in August 2015. Rolling stock as well
as objects and documents from the Modern Transportation
Entrance to Kyoto Railway Museum (Kyoto Railway Museum)
Nara Line
San’ in Main Line
Tokaido Shinkansen
Tokaido Main Line
YamashinaKyoto
Nijo
Tambaguchi
Saga-Arashiyama
Nishioji
Kyoto Railway Museum
To Nagoya
To NaraTo Osaka
51 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
Special Feature
Sister Museum Partnership Flag (Kyoto Railway Museum)
Signing Sister Museum Partnership (Kyoto Railway Museum)
Continued Sister Museum Partnership with NRM
The now-closed Modern Transportation Museum and
Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum entered into a sister
museum partnership with the UK’s National Railway
Museum, York (NRM) in April 2000. Kyoto Railway
Museum has been founded as a fusion of the two closed
Japanese museums, and most of the rolling stock,
objects and documents have been transferred to the new
museum, so the sister museum partnership too has been
inherited by Kyoto Railway Museum. NRM Director Paul
Kirkman and I signed a memorandum on the continuance
of the sister museum partnership on 28 April ahead of the
opening ceremony.
52Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
Floor Map of Kyoto Railway Museum
Hall
Library archiveGallery
Sky Terrace
Main Building 3F
Main Building 2F
Main Building 1F
Connecting deck(connects to the Steam Locomotive No. 2 Service Shed)
Driving simulator
Special Exhibition Room
Restaurant/Break space
Promenade
Twilight Plaza
Steam Locomotive No. 2 Service Shed
Service line
Connecting deck
Turntable
Steam Locomotive Service Shed
Roundhouse platform
The former Nijo Station House
Entrance Hall
Entrance
Exit
Museum shop
Break space
Steam Locomotive Boarding
Series 100 122-5003 EF52-1
SL1800-1801Kiha 81-3
Kani 24-12Oha 25-551
Oha 46-13Wamu 3500-7055
Yo 5000-5008
Series 500 521-1
Kuha 489-1
Kuhane 581-35
DD51-756
EF66-35
SL230-233
Sushi 24-1
Orone 24-4
Suronefu 25-501 EF81-103
EF58-150EF65-1
(Oahu 50-68)
Kuha 103-1 Nashi 20-24
Sushi 28-301
Moha 80-1
Kuha 86-1
Maronefu 59-1
Series 0 22-1
Series 0 35-1
Series 0 16-1
Series 0 21-1
DD54-33
C62-26
8620
-863
0C6
2-2
C61-
2D5
1-20
0C57
-1
C56-160B20-10
1070-1080
9600-9633
C11-647100-7105
C62-1D51-1
C55-1C58-1D50-140
D52-468
C59-164
C53-45
C51-239
Railway diorama
Kid’s park
Operational Systems
Life and the Railway
Railway vehicle factory
Railway facilities
Vehicle Structure
Advances in the Railway
SteamLocomotive Plaza
53 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
Special Feature
Basic Museum Concept
The museum’s fundamental concept is to be a ‘hub of
railway culture that progresses with its community’. We
seek to unite ourselves with local communities by reflecting
the fundamental mission of the JR West group to ‘contribute
to the revitalization of local communities through business
activities centred on the railway’. Based on this concept,
we provide a lifelong learning venue that visitors of all ages
can enjoy. And we further work to partner with local schools
and other nearby facilities to contribute to revitalization of
the community.
53 Pieces of Rolling Stock
The museum exhibits 53 pieces of rolling stock including
20 steam locomotives exhibited previously at Umekoji
Steam Locomotive Museum including Japan’s oldest mass-
Main Building first floor with Series 500 EMU, Kuhane 581, and Kuha 489 (Kyoto Railway Museum)
Promenade with C62 steam locomotive, Kuha 86, and Series 0 Shinkansen (from left) (Kyoto Railway Museum)
54Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
Class 230-233 built in 1903 by Kisha Seizo (Kyoto Railway Museum)
Twilight Plaza exhibits 6 railcars including EF 58 and EF81 electric locomotives (from left) (Kyoto Railway Museum)
first floor, Twilight Plaza, and Roundhouse built in 1914 and
designated an important cultural asset.
A major feature is the museum’s 8 steam locomotives
in operating condition. These include the Class 1070-1080
Yoshitsune imported from the USA in 1880 and the C62,
Japan’s largest steam locomotive.
produced steam locomotive, the Class 230-233 built in
1903; the No. 1 car of a Series 0 shinkansen from when the
high-speed train entered service; a Series 500 EMU that
achieved a commercial operating speed of 300 km/h; and
other rolling stock with high historic value. The rolling stock
is exhibited at four locations: the Promenade, Main Building
55 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
Special Feature
SL Steam Hands-on Exhibit
Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum had SL Steam, a steam
locomotive in operating condition hauling carriages and this
tradition continues at Kyoto Railway Museum. New carriages
have been built for the museum, increasing the passenger
Roundhouse exhibits 20 steam locomotives (Kyoto Railway Museum)
Museum visitors enjoying ride on C56-160 steam locomotive (Kyoto Railway Museum)
capacity to 208. Up to 19 runs a day give visitors a close-
up experience of the excitement of real steam locomotives
spouting steam and blowing their great whistles. With this
exhibit, older visitors can experience the nostalgia of days
past while younger visitors can wonder at such trains.
56Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
Six driving simulators for narrow-gauge trains and two for shinkansen allow visitors to experience train driving (Kyoto Railway Museum)
Visitors can touch and manipulate things to gain better understanding of various railway mechanisms (Kyoto Railway Museum)
Exhibits to See, Touch, and Experience
The museum has many exhibits that can be touched and
experienced as well as seen. Having visitors touch and
manipulate things helps promote understanding of the
various railway mechanisms.
The hands-on exhibits include six driving simulators for
narrow-gauge trains and two for shinkansen where visitors
can experience train driving by wearing train drivers’
uniforms, receiving instructions, and simulating actual train
operation. This is one of the most popular attractions at the
museum, with many children as well as adults wanting to
try it out, so a lottery is held each day to select lucky new
train drivers.
57 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
Special Feature
Experiencing Railway Work
Railway operations are supported by people performing
a wide range of tasks, including station personnel,
conductors, drivers, dispatchers, as well as engineers
who maintain vehicles and facilities, such as tracks,
civil engineering structures like cuttings, embankments
and bridges, and overhead power lines and signals. At
weekends, holidays and during the summer break, staff
from JR West who actually work on railways explain their
duties using museum exhibits, and events are held for
visitors to experience that work.
By providing an opportunity for communication between
railway staff and visitors, we hope to be able to provide a
new level of discovery and amazement for visitors and to
heighten job satisfaction for JR West staff by making their
work more widely understood. This has proved to be well
accepted by adults as well as children.
Railway Diorama
The Railway Diorama on the second floor of the Main Building
is one of the largest in Japan at about 30 m x 10 m. All the
HO-scale model trains are operated manually with an eye
Young visitor getting hands-on experience of railway work (Kyoto Railway Museum)
30 m x 10 m Diorama with 1/80 HO-scale model trains (Kyoto Railway Museum)
58Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
to portraying a day on the railway. Even though up to 250
people can see the diorama at once and there are four to
seven shows each day, it is almost always full, proving it is
one of the most popular attractions.
Sky Terrace
The Sky Terrace viewing deck on the third
floor of the Main Building offers spectacular
views of Kyoto Tower, Tofukuji Temple,
and the Higashiyama mountains with the
Tokaido Main Line, shinkansen, and San’in
Main Line trains running below. It makes a
great viewpoint that takes advantage of the
landscape of the old capital of Kyoto. An
operation information display system for the
Tokaido Line shows visitors the operations
status of trains running below. Railway fans
will forget the passage of time while they are
at this special spot.
Steam Locomotive No. 2 Service Shed
Next to the museum, JR West has set up a shed for
inspecting and servicing steam locomotives to preserve
them in operating condition into the future so they can run
on commercial lines. The shed is a JR West facility, but it
Steam Locomotive No. 2 Service Shed with ceiling crane lifting boiler of steam locomotive (Kyoto Railway Museum)
View over Kyoto from Sky Terrace (Kyoto Railway Museum)
59 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016
Special Feature
Hideyuki MiuraMr Miura is a Director of Kyoto Railway Museum and a Vice President of the Transportation Culture Promotion Foundation. Prior to his current position, he served as CEO of JR West Financial Management Co.
is connected to the second floor of the museum, so visitors
can watch steam locomotives being inspected and repaired
through the windows. Views of large and small parts being
repaired and assembled and locomotives being hoisted by
a large ceiling crane captivate many visitors.
Former Nijo Station House
The former Nijo Station House, also used for the Umekoji
Steam Locomotive Museum, forms the museum exit. This
wooden station house was built in 1904 by Kyoto Railway
and was relocated to Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum in
1997. It is a tangible cultural asset of Kyoto City. Half of the
interior houses a steam locomotive exhibit, and the other half
is a museum shop.
Closing
We are continuing to take on the challenge of developing
new projects for the enjoyment and education of visitors
to the museum. At the same time, we are putting our full
effort into the collection and preservation of materials as well
as conducting investigations and research, which are all
the true essence of a museum. We also aim to be a lasting
museum that evolves under stable management to pass on
railway culture to future generations.
For directions to the museum, floor maps, and other information, visit the museum website at http://www.kyotorailwaymuseum.jp/en/
Former Nijo Station House (Kyoto Railway Museum)